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Firefighter Mental Health and Wellness

The Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative (FFSHC) is committed to providing improved methods of hope and healing through education and training for our brothers and sisters so we do not continue a predictable and painful pattern of emotional, spiritual, and, ultimately, our physical detriment.

As suicide, post traumatic stress, and catastrophic addictions have become the epidemic that is taking the lives of our fellow first responders the FFSHC has chosen to take a detailed look into the current programs and protocols in which we have entrusted first responder’s mental wellness to. Through dedicated action and a collaborative approach, this diversified team is effectively identifying the current system’s shortcomings and offering constructive alternatives to help empower Florida's first responders and their families.

As you are reading this right now, there are thousands of firefighters across this country where the tones have gone off and the trucks have gone en route with the hopes of positively impacting the lives of perfect strangers that have called out for our help.

We equip our firefighters with a myriad of tools, techniques, and training to handle the physical aspects of the calls they respond to. The selection process for the curriculum, training, and equipment utilized for the physical aspects of the job that we provide for these men and women were not randomly created. Each tool and technique was introduced as we found predictable patterns which required intervention and adaptation so that we did not repeat our past errors. Put quite simply ; where a void was found in the current system and a life was negatively impacted; corrective action was then taken, training was introduced and the tools were provided.

The poetic irony is the very helmet that we place upon our heads to protect us, does nothing at all to prevent the mental injury from what we see. The past culture and training offered a minimalistic approach to mental wellness which created a great disparity in preparing firefighters to move from post traumatic stress towards post traumatic growth.

The Florida Firefighter Safety and Health Collaborative mental wellness team provides a multitude of tools and resources to create a more balanced approach to a holistic and dynamic healing for our first responders. Through this site accessible training, protocols, and informational resources are available to all members. As our team and dedicated members work tirelessly to bring the emotional impact of our jobs out of the shadows we are here to help bridge the gaps.

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Disclaimer

The Florida Firefighters Safety & Health Collaborative is an organization formed to provide our members shared knowledge and resources based on best practices and research available from a myriad of confirmed resources. This website serves as a vehicle to share this information. It is not the intent of our Collaborative to operate for the benefit of private interests, to sponsor or endorse ANY specific agency, vendor, manufacturer or product. Nor is it our intent to support or endorse any political candidate or campaign for elected public office.